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Belgian intelligence puts Huawei on its watchlist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

Belgium’s intelligence service is scrutinizing the operations of technology giant Huawei as fears of Chinese espionage grow around the EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to confidential documents seen by POLITICO and three people familiar with the matter.In recent months, Belgium’s State Security Service (VSSE) has requested interviews with former employees of the company’s lobbying operation in the heart of Brussels’ European district. The intelligence gathering is part of security officials’ activities to scrutinize how China may be using non-state actors — including senior lobbyists in Huawei’s Brussels office — to advance the interests of the Chinese state and its Communist party in Europe, said the people, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.The scrutiny of Huawei’s EU activities comes as Western security agencies are sounding the alarm over companies with links to China. British, Dutch, Belgian, Czech and Nordic off...

Toni Collette, John Leguizamo plug into Prime series ‘Power’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

NEW YORK – For Toni Collette, being able to play a harried, married politician in this Friday’s Prime Video series “The Power” was only part of the attraction.As the mayor, with a doctor husband (John Leguizamo) and teenage daughter, Collette, 50, witnesses a worldwide phenomenon where all teenage girls suddenly develop the power to electrocute anyone, just by releasing electric jolts from their fingertips.Usually before Collette ever says yes to a role, she explained in an in-person interview at the Four Seasons Downtown Manhattan, she needs to have a positive feeling “in my gut. It’s very strange, because it’s very clear, very apparent.”But “The Power” is a bit different. “This is an epic show. It’s quite sprawling and global. So it wasn’t just about my character.“I loved that this was an empowering story for girls and women. I love that it’s about inclusivity and equality; important things that our world seems to be grappling with at the moment...

Clement & Spinney: No good justification for banning nips in Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

Early in March, Boston city councilor Ricardo Arroyo filed a motion to ban the sale and distribution of  mini bottles of liquor, aka nips.  Arroyo wants Boston to follow the nip ban as adopted in Newton, Chelsea, Falmouth, Wareham and Mashpee.When asked about the proposal, Arroyo said the small bottles often end up as litter and that by banning these bottles Boston will experience fewer alcohol-related incidents.But Bostonians must ask themselves: is this a good justification for banning what is essentially a small version of an otherwise legal product? The answer is no. The nip ban is just another encroachment from the nanny state, this time aimed at adult consumers who prefer nips because they are convenient, ultimately punishing drinkers who want small serving sizes.For public health, there is little evidence to suggest that prohibition of smaller-sized products works, certainly not from a harm reduction angle. If Boston does go down the road of banning nips, consumers will ultim...

Editorial: Poll shows Americans souring on patriotism, religion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

Depending on your politics, the results of a new poll on traditional values are either very good or very bad. .The poll, conducted by the Wall Street Journal and the independent research institution NORC, showed that the  number of adults prioritizing classic American values like patriotism, religious faith and having children appears to be shrinking.As The Hill reported, under 40% of Americans said patriotism was very important to them, and a similar share said the same about religion. In 1998, when the publication first asked about these values, 70% of Americans felt patriotism was very important, and 62% felt that way about religion.This is disturbing, but not surprising.As the progressive narrative has grabbed the national mic,  patriotism is presented as cheek by jowl with white supremacy, divisiveness and intolerance. In this crowd, flags are for burning, not flying proudly.Discussion of our founding fathers is rarely without mention of their having owned slaves. Crafting a co...

Dear Abby: Wife spends 30 years married to a miser

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

Dear Abby: I’ve been married for more than 30 years. My husband and I split all bills and everything else. This has worked because, in life, I have always taken care of myself. My issue is his cheap attitude about every little dime. He always makes sure I pay my fair share TO THE PENNY, but when it comes to his reimbursing me, he usually rounds down to the dollar.While he’s tight with the family, he’s generous to everyone else. He is generous not only with his money, but also his time. His stinginess toward me makes me feel I’m unimportant to him. (I am very generous to him.) Why are our family and I lowest on his priority list while he’s so generous to everyone else? — Feeling Slighted in CaliforniaDear Feeling: Your husband may have cultivated the reputation of being benevolent and munificent because he feels it is to his advantage. He may not feel the need to impress you and other family members because he sees no advantage in it. What a misera...

Brian Dutcher setting historic firsts for SDSU during magical March Madness run

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Sixth-year head coach Brian Dutcher is leading the San Diego State University men's basketball team on a historic run as they continue to create madness in the NCAA Tournament. Dutcher's four wins in this year's competition are the only victories he has had in his NCAA Tournament head coaching career. The 63-year-old will also be the second-oldest coach to make his men's Final Four debut in the past 25 years, ESPN's SportsCenter tweeted Sunday.When he started out as the Aztecs head coach in the 2017-18 season, Dutcher lost in the first round. The Aztecs did not make the tournament the following year (2018-19), while the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2019-20 tournament for the first time in history. Then, the following two seasons, the Aztecs suffered back-to-back first round exits. And now in the 2022-2023 season, Dutcher has struck gold. His team has defeated the College of Charleston, Furman University, The University of Alabama and Creighton University in the NCAA T...

South Bay community pays tribute to boys killed in 1993

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. -- It was a double homicide case that haunted a South Bay community for years. The murder of Jonathan Sellers and Charlie Keever happened three decades ago and today the community is keeping their names alive.Thirty years ago, Sellers and Keever were killed and their bodies were discovered along the Otay River. "My baby would be turning 40 years old, and he never got to see that" said Sellers' mother Melena Sellers Phillips. Sellers was nine years old at the time."It was very difficult. I went through some hard times for many years" Phillips said.Charlie Keever, 13, was also a victim. His mother told FOX5 the conversation she had with him before he went out on his bike ride."Por favor Charlie, be careful. There are a lot of bad people around y me dijo, oh mom don’t worry" Maria Keever said.The boys were never seen again. Two days later, their bodies were discovered along the Otay River bank and according to police, Scott Erskine was accused of t...

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — A former elite soldier charged with murder for allegedly killing an unarmed man in Afghanistan was released on bail Tuesday by a magistrate who concluded he would face danger from Muslim extremists in prison. Oliver Schulz, 41, had been in custody since his arrest in rural New South Wales state last week on the war crime of murder.His lawyer Phillip Boulten applied for bail in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Monday, arguing the former Special Air Service Regiment trooper faced serious risks to his personal safety from Muslim extremists in the prison system and had to be segregated from other inmates.“Wherever this man is going to be held in prison, he is likely to have to mix with people in prison who sympathize with the Taliban or with other Islamicextremist groups,” Boulten said.Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson granted the request, agreeing the risks posed to him while behind bars were too great.“It’s possible to infer that there may be some people being held ther...

Russia says it test-fired anti-ship missiles in Sea of Japan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry says Moscow has test-fired anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan. The ministry said Tuesday that two boats launched a simulated missile attack on a mock enemy warship about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. The ministry said the target was successfully hit by two Moskit cruise missiles. The Moskit, whose NATO reporting name is the SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that has conventional and nuclear warhead capacity.It said the exercise took place in the Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan but did not give more precise coordinates. The gulf borders the Russian Pacific Fleet headquarters at Fokino and is about 700 kilometers (430 miles) from Japan’s northern Hokkaido Island. Japan’s Defense Ministry had no immediate response. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Russian nuclear-capable Tu-95 flew over the Sea of Japan for several hours last week.The Associated...

Asian shares mostly rise on relief over US bank strength

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:21 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday as investors got some relief from worries over troubled U.S. banks with a planned takeover of failed Silicon Valley Bank. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.1% to 27,456.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.1% to 7,036.20. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4% to 2,419.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose nearly 0.4% to 19,644.68, while the Shanghai Composite inched up less than 0.1% to 3,249.39. “Asian equities were positive on Tuesday, lifted by mostly higher major indices in the previous session. Receding fears surrounding the banking crisis and surging oil prices led to solid risk-taking flows,” Anderson Alves at ActivTrades said in a report. Markets have been in turmoil following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, the second-largest U.S. bank failure in history, earlier this month, and then the third-largest failure, by New York-based Signature Bank. Investors have been hunting for which banks could be n...